When Luis gets the crowd calmed down, my time is up and I return to my seat, still in my armor. Veers takes my hand when I sit down, squeezing it tightly. She understands exactly what I just did, and what it all means.

Shuri is called up first, and I can tell she definitely senses the shift in tone my interview created. Dressed in a sleeveless white dress, her dark hair braided up into a knot on her head threaded with white ties, she has the poise of her brother. She answers Luis' questions with just the slightest touch of attitude, and when Luis tells the crowd to give her one last round of applause as she walks away, she flips off the entire audience with nary a backwards glance.

Ava Starr is next, dressed in her characteristic white suit with her brown wavy hair hanging over her shoulders, and she only gives brief answers to the questions, sometimes only answering with a shake or nod of the head, and Luis doesn't push her after her form begins to flicker. She simply looks exhausted.

Then Hope Van Dyne, dressed in business attire and looking very intimidating. Her answers are also curt, like Ava's, and she is able to twist Luis' statements to question the practice of the Contest of Champions. She maintains her cool the entire time, even when Luis seems to get a bit flustered.

Luis welcomes Peggy Carter to the front of the stage next, and she is dressed in a nice blue dress with two red stripes around the waist. Her commanding presence holds the audience silent. "I fought for freedom once," she states, at one point. "I wouldn't be ashamed to fight for it again."

The audience takes it as meaning her freedom, but I know what she really means. So does Thanos, I bet.

The Jotunheim champion is rather unresponsive, and then Wanda steps up to Luis. Dressed in a light pink dress, a necklace of little daisy charms around her neck and her hair curled, she sports a classic look but wears no smile. When Luis asks her, almost tentatively, if she has any parting words for the audience, she lifts her eyes. "You...took...everything from me," she hisses, and her hands begin to take on a scarlet glow.

Minn-Erva gives an interview that, despite her smug attitude, is definitely less rebellious in tone, and Luis seems to relax somewhat. Veers rolls her eyes at the Kree warrior as she returns to her seat, and her grip tightens on my hand.

Annie Weying is next, dressed also in business attire, and does not question the Infinity Endeavor or Thanos directly, although she certainly is not pleased with it. "I was hoping to live out the rest of my life in peace," she says, then holds out her hand so the cameras and the audience can see the engagement ring on her finger. "I just got engaged to the love of my life, but might never get to marry him."

Eddie winces at that.

Then, after the girl from Vanaheim, it's Veers' turn. As Luis turns to call her up, I gently flip back the veil from her face and give her a grim smile. With a brief nod, Veers rises and walks up to join Luis.

There is a gasp from the crowd as they see her in the wedding dress, probably the most unorthodox look for the Kree ever seen. But it has a definite effect, for I hear several cries of pity echo from the audience, causing Veers' shoulders to stiffen.

"Dayyym!" Luis whistles, looking her up and down. "All resplendent in white, girl! I thought you were going to fight for victory in this Contest tomorrow, not go to a wedding!"

Veers smiles, although the tension doesn't leave her shoulders. "Well, Luis, I keep telling you, we Kree are very good at multi-tasking."

There's a cheer from the audience at the callback to her first interview.

"Seriously, though," Luis says. "What's with the wedding dress?"

She smooths down the front of the dress. "It's symbolic of my commitment to my district partner, Loki." She takes a moment to smile back at me. "We are determined to remain allies, no matter what, in the arena. Whatever it takes." Her words have the same echo of rebellion as mine. Because in the Infinity Endeavor, in this arena, there can be no true allies, not for long.

Luis waits until the crowd quiets down somewhat before asking. "I'm sure we're all thinking this, Veers of Starforce, so let me just ask it. How do you plan to deal with the fact that unlike your unprecedented double victory last year, this year will see the return to having only one champion?"

Veers lifts her head, jaw set defiantly. "I know both of us won't make it out, but that doesn't matter when it comes to our alliance. We will stand together until the end, just as we did last time. Thanos may decree many things, but he cannot force me to kill Loki, nor him to kill me. Otherwise, one of us would already be dead." She spreads out her hands as a ripple runs through the crowd. "That is what our outfits tonight say, Luis, that we will not loosen the bonds of our alliance in favor of a better chance. We won't sell out. We care about each other, and the arena doesn't change that. It can't."

And then, I have an idea. I had made my groom's outfit vanish for my armor, and so I lift my hand slightly and curl my fingers inward, sending Veers' wedding dress disappearing to show her in her Starforce uniform, the colors the green and gold of Asgard.

The illusion doesn't even faze Veers. "And we will fight for each other, the way we did the first time. Because an alliance like this doesn't come around that often, I've found. And I'm determined not to lose it."

She stalks back to her seat just as her time ends, and I rise instinctively, catching her hand in mine and reaching for the hand of the Vanaheim girl next to me. I know exactly how to end this, to top off the rebellious sentiment brewing all evening. But it'll only work if....

I glance down the line and other champions are taking each other's hands, forming a chain that spans the entire stage. With the conclusion of Veers' interview, the lights had gone up on those of us in the back, so our show of alliance is visible to all watching. Then, before the effect can be ruined, I conjure up an image of Yggdrasil, replicating the engraving on my pin, and cast it up and around all of us, the outline of the tree towering over all twenty-four champions, connecting us and binding us together.

For a moment, the image is clear, and then the lights cut off.